National Environmental Standards

'National Environmental Standards' are produced by the New Zealand government to ensure that everyone in our country has clear air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean land to live on. These Standards are regulations issued under sections 43 and 44 of the Resource Management Act and apply nationally. They can prescribe technical standards, methods or other requirements for environmental matters. Each regional, city or district council must enforce the same standard and in some circumstances, councils can impose stricter standards.